Recap: The Quirk’s Event Dallas
By Josh Logan
A week removed from The Quirk’s Event Dallas, we’ve had time to step back and reflect on not just on the energy of the event, but on what actually stuck.
For us at W5, it delivered on what these gatherings do best: reconnecting with industry peers, building new relationships, and pressure-testing ideas shaping the future of research. It’s that balance of conversation and perspective that continues to make Quirk’s a valuable pulse check for where the industry is heading.
Unsurprisingly, AI dominated much of the dialogue—but with a noticeable shift. The tone has moved from hype to application. More grounded. More pragmatic. More aligned with how we’ve long approached it: as a tool to enhance thinking, not replace it.
There were several sessions that stood out, and a few in particular that continue to shape how we’re thinking about the work ahead. Here’s what stayed with us.
The Quirk’s Event, SAGO Session
The human imperative: Building trust in an AI-driven world with SAGO
This session was a tone-setter for the broader AI conversation happening throughout the event. The big takeaway: AI is powerful, but it’s not the answer on its own. The real value still comes from human interpretation, empathy, and judgment.
What landed was the idea that trust is the currency we’re all playing for right now. AI can help us move faster, but if no one trusts the output, it doesn’t matter. This graphic was extremely insightful for contextualizing where each can really shine.
Architecting growth: First Horizon Bank’s tech-first system for strategic insights
Really interesting look at what it actually takes to modernize an insights function inside a traditionally slower-moving industry.
This wasn’t just about adopting new tools, it was about fundamentally changing the role of insights withing the organization by moving from reaction and validation to continuous, always-on insights.
The big takeaway here was being intentional and having a focus on proactivity rather than reactivity in the way you approach insights reaps rewards for the brand and department as a whole.
Advertising your research: Designing findings to be understood, remembered and applied with Truth Marketing + Media
Probably the most immediately actionable session we saw with the basic premise being that we spend so much time getting the research right and then completely undersell it in how we deliver it.
This was a great reminder that insights don’t have impact unless they’re actually felt, remembered, and utilized.
The idea of treating research outputs more like advertising by using narrative, visuals, and even “palate cleansers” to keep people engaged was simple but powerful. It reinforced that we are doing the right things at W5, and gave us some new ideas to experiment with.
Big takeaway: If there was one thread running through everything we saw in the sessions, it’s that speed is increasing, but differentiation still comes from depth, and depth still comes from humans.
Up next is The Quirk’s Event Chicago on April 15 and 16. We hope to see you there!